Fighting Fate
by PennyGirl
Summary: They finally have the lives they'd wanted. Until a certain Negvaerse general returns to serve his revenge, and destroy the future. Not knowing that it has already been decided...(Rated for Lang.) RWSM x-over
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own SailorMoon or Ronin Warriors, so I beg you to please not sue me.

Fighting Fate

A Ronin Warrior/SailorMoon Crossover

By: PennyGirl

Prologue 

The ice was cold.

It was always cold. 

_He_ was cold. Freezing, actually.

And hungry, he was also _very_ hungry.

A figure moved outside the cold ice. It had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was slowly shivering to death. Their energy was almost gone, but still retrievable.

He smiled.

Prey.

_Fresh_ prey.

_Warm_ prey.

Prey that would let him get away from life in this cold, gods forsaken block of ice.

The pick raised itself high and cracked the ice.

Hit…

Crack.

Hit…

Crack.

Hit…

Crack.

_Faster_, he urged.

Hit…

Crack.

Hit…

Crack.

_Faster_!

Hit…

Crack.

Hit…

_Faster!_

Crack.

Hit…

_Faster! Faster! Faster! Faster I tell you, faster! Faster damnit!_

Crack.

Hit…

CRACK!--SMASH!

Jadeite smiled as the ice crumbled around him, and the victim smiled at her accomplishment. "Hello," she said. "I'm Lucy."

Jadeite smiled wider. _Dinnertime._ "I'm Jadeite. And you're dinner."


	2. Breathe

Disclaimer: I don't own SailorMoon, or the Ronin Warriors. They all belong to whoever it is that created them.

Fighting Fate

A RW/SM X-Over

By: PennyGirl

Part one: Breathe

Hotaru hummed as she fished her bike's lock key out of her bag. She smiled when she found it and bent over the lock as she fitted the key into it. Naturally, the boys walking past her saw, and noticed that she wasn't bending at the knees, as she had been told to over and over again. Instead, she was bending at the waist. Revealing what lay beneath her short skirt. As one, their heads stopped and bent at a weird angle as they watched her go down…and her skirt go up…

Hotaru frowned when she realized that she had the wrong key for her lock. So, she just sighed and dropped her bag as she began to rifle through it for the right key. As she did so, she realized that Michiru had been right when she'd last talked to her on the phone. She really should get a key ring and label all her damn keys. After all, she had so many. There was the key for the apartment, the temple, the dojo, the control room, her bike, her locker, the mail box, the time portal, her castle, Setsuna's castle, Peruru's tower…Well, she probably didn't need _that_ key anymore. She should probably throw that one out.

*_Sigh*_ There were just so many of them. How could she have so many keys?

"Hey Hotaru, what's up?"

Hotaru glanced up from her bag and saw that a classmate of hers she'd had a crush on for a long time was standing before her. She smiled at him and went back to her bag. "Hi, Yuli. Good to see you. How'd you do in math today?"

Yuli shrugged and stepped over to hi bike. "Okay I guess. But the anatomy lessons the guys and I are leaning are really good."

"Really?" Hotaru asked, so involved with finding the key that she didn't even realize that they had no anatomy class at that school. It'd been thrown out three years ago, when parents had complained about the sex-ed doll. Michiru among them. "What'cha learning?"

Yuli shrugged. "Nothing much. Just how good you look in purple underwear."

            Hotaru gasped ad stood up, holding her skirt over her bottom as she turned around and glared at the boys who were beginning to drool. "Perverts!" she yelled. "Go home and jerk off!"

The boys groaned in disappointment and left as Yuli began laughing his head off. "What are you laughing at, jackass?"

Yuli laughed some more and said, "You. You never bend at the knees. I'm a guy who lives with five others who are worse than me, and I _still_ know that you're supposed to do that."

Hotaru glared and yelled pervert as Yuli rode away laughing. Hi black helmet going well with hi uniform.  She growled in frustration and turned to her bike.  Pulling at the links on the chain, she grabbed her lock and threw it into her bag, now a hunk of useless metal. Hotaru barely even noticed as she strapped on her helmet and rode her bike towards the temple for daily training.

* * * * * * * * * 

As was usual for when she entered the Hikawa Shrine on Cherry Hill, Hotaru replaced her shoes for the delicate slippers she kept there and sniffed in the smell of burning incense and cherry blossoms happily. She loved the temple. It was just so peaceful here. Here, there was nothing to worry about, and nothing evil to fight.  Sure, whenever they had had an enemy in the past, the temple had been a battleground several times. But now, when they had real peace, true peace, and could go about the lives they wanted, the temple was a place of refuge and tranquility. If she could, Hotaru would love to follow in Rei's footsteps and become a priestess at this temple. It was just so peaceful. Like Rei and her grandfather, she had no real need to be involved in the world of fast growing technology and changing ideologies. She would be perfectly happy to just stay at the temple and learn about how to preserve its traditions and beliefs.

Hotaru sighed in happiness. She wished she could dwell in the euphoria of the temple all day. But, duty called. And she had to go train for the day. After all, just because there were no more enemies to fight it didn't mean that she couldn't be prepared. And besides, she was planning to enter one of those martial arts tournaments that Rei was all hyped up about. After all, what was the point of learning high levels of the martial arts if they couldn't be displayed in fair combat against and opponent who feels the same way? Of course, for Rei, that opponent had, and would, be any member of the Date dojo that she could get her hands on. World-class fighters who won each and every tournament they entered into. Rei and her grandfather were ecstatic to be able to be putting the students that they had trained for so long, and trusted, and cared for, and loved so much against the Date fighters. And Hotaur couldn't wait to get to the tournament and do them proud. Especially if she got to fight this 'Sage Date' that Rei was always raving about, and calling a horrible fighter and cheater. Someone who was unworthy of their skill or weapons.

And maybe, if she won her fair share of matches at the tournament, maybe she could approach Rei and her grandfather on the subject of a priestess-hood along with her martial arts training. And besides, what was the point of training for a future career when, in a few years time, she and the rest of the planet would be frozen in ice and she'd awaken to become Sailor Saturn, one of the four guardians of the outer solar system who aided in the protection of Neo-Queen Serenity and her daughter and husband?

Hotaru smiled as her thoughts turned to the future, and her friend Rini. She couldn't wait for her to be here! Only three more years, and she would have her trusted friend back! Then, even though Rini would be a baby, Hotaru would be able to tell her about Peruru, and everything that had happened between them. She knew Rini wouldn't mind. Sure, Rini had had a thing for Peruru, but that had only lasted for a week or so, when Rini had begun to fall for Helios as well.

"Hotaru? Are you ready to start?"

Hotaru snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at Rei, who stood at the end of the hall with a kendo sword in one hand. She smiled at Rei and began to walk with her to the dojo side of the temple. "Absolutely!" Hotaru replied. "Are any of the others here?"

  Rei smiled. "Mina is. And Lita's in the kitchen. But that's about it. Ami's still in Germany, and Serena's stuck in Athens with Darien."

"What about Haruka and Michiru?"

"Stuck in Nepal. Why they had to go there for their vacation, I'll never know." Rei shook her head in disbelief and wrapped her arm around Hotauru's shoulders. "How was school?"

"Yuli saw my underwear again. I keep forgetting which way to bend. It's so embarrassing."

Rei laughed and hugged Hotaru. "You should be used to it by now! We are Sailor Scouts after all. We are known for our short skirts. It's our trademark."

"Well, that and our powers," Hotaru said.

"Yours maybe, but _I'm_ known for my skirt, and nothing else," Mina spoke up as she stretched in the dojo. "Hey, Hotaru. How's the love life going?"

"Fine," Hotaru lied, and shoved her slippers and bag in a corner as she began to stretch as well. Rei smiled and got a glint in her eyes as she spoke up about the tournament, and the fighters they would see there. And how they would beat the crap out of the Date fighters. And reclaim the titles that they had fought for so long to get, and had once had in their grasp. Hotaru felt the same way as Rei. She couldn't wait to get out on those mats and shoe her skill. Especially for Rei, who wanted these things so much, and deserved them because she worked so hard.


	3. Heels

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or the Ronin Warriors. Nor am I making any money off of this story.

Fighting Fate

Part 2: Heels

It was Saturday. The third one of the month. And on every third saturday, of every single month, the Warlords and Kayura came by to visit and learn more about the Mortal Realm. They had been doing this for the past five years, ever since Kayura had shown up one day wanting to learn about the world that she had once tried to destroy for a master that she had hardly liked. The warloeds didn't show up as often as Kayura did, but they enjoyed the visits when they did.

"So, explain to me please," Dais began to say in his deep voice. Mia, distracted by Ryo's flirting foot under the table, turned to him quickly.

"What?" she asked.

"Why do women wear shoes with heels no thicker than toothpicks?"he asked, gesturing to a table just as large as theirs that was seated with only three women, but was practically hidden beneath all of their shopping bags.

Mia glanced at their feet and saw that they all wore the same type of high heeled shoes that really did look like the heels were no thinner than toothpicks. Mia shrugged. "They're fashionable. The women who wear them like to be in style, and those are what's in style. They must be rich though, because those shoes aren't cheap."

"How much do they usually cost?" Kayura asked curiously.

"About five to eight hundred american."

Ryo spit out the drink of water he had been taking. Sage, who was sitting next to him, only smirked and handed Cale a napkin. "Five hundred american for a pair of shoes?" he cried. "That's insane! Who would buy somehting like that?"

"Well apparently them," Kayura said, sipping from her cherry soda. She had taken a liking to it on her last trip, and could not seem to get enough of the stuff.

"But those shoes, don't they hurt?" Sekhmet asked. "They're awfully high, and look hard to balance in as well."

Mia shrugged. "They're probably used to them. It just takes a little practice."

"Hey guys!" Yuli said excitedly as he skateboarded up to the table. "What's up?"

"Shoes, apparently," Kayura said. "Five hundred american and toothpick thin heels."

"Huh?" Yuli asked, unstrapping his helmet, and sitting down in a vacant seat.

Ryo jerked his thumb at the table that Dais had pointed out and Yuli looked over curiously. "Oh, hey, that's Hotaru. I didn't know she hung out around here."

"Who?" Mia asked.

"Hotaru Tomoe. I go to school with her." Yuli stood up quickly and waved excitedly. "Hey Hotaru!"

A girl at the table with long black hair and pale skin looked up from her conversation with her friends. Seeing Yuli's waving, she smiled widely and waved back calmly before turning back to her friends.

Yuli, smiling, sat back down and looked with surprise at his staring friends. "What?" he asked.

Sage smiled at him. "She's very pretty, Yuli. How long have you known her?"

Yuli shrugged, "About two years. She's in the same class as me. And we're partners a lot of the time in study groups. Why do you want to know?"

"She seems to like you," Mia said. "I mean, she smiled at you and everything."

Yuli shrugged again. "So? She smiles at evrybody, that's just the way she is. Big deal."

"I guess, but does every girl who smiles at you blush too?" Mia asked.

"No. But Hotaru's pale, the smallest thing makes her skin blush. It's probably what she's drinking, r maybe it's somehting she ate."

"Sure, Yuli. Keep telling yourself that," Sage said, sipping from his water.

Yuli blushed at the comments Sage made and said, "She doesn't like me, okay? She's got a serious boyfreind and there's no shaking them."

"Ah, so you've tried though, eh?" Sekhmet slyly commented, throwing his voice into the conversation.

"Yeah, I have. I failed. No big deal. Plenty of fish in the sea. Where's the waittress with my water anyway?" he said, quickly changing the subject. "I'm parched." Like Ryo and Sage, he had gone on a strict diet for the upcoming tournaments, and wasn't able to have any type of soft drink or junk food. Cye had almost agreed to the diet, but had been informed not to by his doctor. Recently he had been diagnosed as hypoglycemic, and his doctor had said he needed the sugar. Rowen, being the study freak that he was, had refused outright because it had meant he would have to give up coffe; which he claimed was vital to his study regimen. Kento, of course, would not be moved form his diet of junk food and soft drinks; but he had agreed to at least drink more water.

Mia smiled at Yuli, for the moment dropping the subject of Hotaru Tomoe and whether or not she liked him, instead, she started back on a much easier subject for them to talk about. "We'll get the waittress over here right away. Now tell us about how you're doing in school."

_At the table where the women wear the heels..._

"Hotaru, who was that boy you were waving at?" Mina asked, sweeping her gaze over to the table and sipping delicately from her fruit smoothie.

"A boy from school. His name's Yuli. That must be his family that's with him."

"Weird lookin family, if you ask me," Lita said, glancing over at the table filled with men who had hair of varying colors of blue or green. White and black. The two women who were with them were dressed simply in jeans and t-shirts, and they smiled kindly at the boy who had waved to Hotaru as he was teased by the black haired man sitting next to him.

"Oh, and ours is a constant kodak moment?" Hotaru asked sarcastically as she flagged the waittress over to order another cup of tea.

Lita held her hands up in surrender. "Touche. I yield. So who is he, really?"

Hotaru shrugged. "He's just a boy. We hang out at school sometimes and help each other out with homework. That's all. Nothing more than that. We're just friends."

"And what does Peruru say about your being 'friends'?" Mina asked. "Is he okay with it?"

Hotaru looked away carefully, avoiding the gaze of her friends. "Peruru hasn't said anyhting about it. He's perfectly fine with all of my friends. That's it, end of story. New subject, please." Hotaru took another big swig of her tea to avoid the gazes and raised eyebrows of her freinds as they looked knowingly at each other over the large packages sitting on top of the table.

"Hotaru," Mina began slowly, "how has Peruru been lately? I heard from Artemis that there's this huge treaty negotiation going on over there. Is everything okay?"

"Um...the last time I checked it was. Is there any more more sugar for my tea? It doesn't taste right."

"Hotaru, are you avoiding the subject?" Lita asked bluntly.

"No," Hotaru said from behind her cup.

"Liar," Mina said, reaching for the cup and putting it down gently on the table. She looked at Hotaru intently as the teen stared at her folded hands in her lap, the tips of her shoes providing a secondary distraction. "What happened?" she asked.

Hotaru sighed. "We had a fight. About two weeks ago. About the treaty. Something happened that he hadn't expected, and we wound up getting into a disagreement about it, which then turned into this huge fight, and...now it's over. We're through. I guess now I don't have to worry about explaining this to Rini when she's older, huh?"

Mina sighed and Lita put a reassuring arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine, Hotaru. It just takes a little bit of time. That's all."

Hotaru smiled at Lita weakly. "Yeah, I guess. You're not gonna tell Rei about this, are you?"

"Nah," Lita said. "I'm sure she'll find out on her own."

"Which may take weeks, what with this tournament coming up and all," Mina said, putting some money on the table before standing up and stretching her back. "Which means, until that time, we shop. Anyone up for shoes? I'm buying."

Lita looked at Hotaru cheerfully. "You up for it? We've done enough shopping today already."

Hotaru smiled. "Of course. I'm always up for shopping. Especially shoes. Heels are a very necessary part of my short bodies life."

Mina smiled. Hotaru had never liked the fact that she was short, and constantly wore the highest heels possible to make up for her five foot one inch height. "Spoken like a true senshi," she said, "So let's get cracking. I heard there's a sale at the boutique down the street, so maybe we can snag some Cathy Jeans before we head over to Manalo Blahnik."

Hotaru smiled and she and Lita grabbed their bags at the same time as Mina before they walked away.

When they passed Yuli's table Hotaru noticed him looking at her while trying to act like he wasn't. Noticing this, she could take a pretty good guess as to why his friends had been teasing him. Making sure his friends weren't looking when she did it, she winked at him flirtatiously before walking out the gate for the patio of the restaurant and down the street with Lita and Mina to the stores that awaited them.

And as she did this her impossibly high, toothpick thin, five hundred american dollar heels clicked loudly as she walked quickly down the street. Her balance was perfect. After all, she'd had lots of practice. On, and off, the battlefiled.

Driving home later that day after the Warlords and Kayura had left, Sage was still subtly egging Yuli on about Hotaru, while Mia's bluntness about the subject was beyond obvious. And they wouldn't have noticed the man lying in the middle of the road if Ryo hadn't leapt forward in the backseat to yell "Lookout!" before Mia could run him over.

Surprised, Mia slammed quickly on the brakes as everyone held onto their seats and thanked god for the invention of seatbelts.

"What happened?" Yuli asked.

"I don't know, there's someone in the road," Mia said, unbuckling her seatbelt and climbing out of the car.

"Mia, wait!" Ryo said, climbing out of the car right after her, to be followed by both Sage and Yuli as well.

Mia knelt in the street and gently turned the man onto his back so she could take his pulse. "He's alive," she said. She leaned down so her cheek was close to his mouth and nose. "HIs breathing's shallow tho--AAAAHHH!" Mia screamed bloody murder as the man grabbed her shoulder and tried to lift himself up.

"Help me..." he rasped.

Mia backed away scared as Ryo and Yuli rushed forward to see if she was okay, while Sage tended to the man in the road. "Help me..." he rasped again.

"What happened to you?" Sage asked concernedly.

"A...attacked..." The man coughed and Sage noticed there was a large wound in his right shoulder.

"You were attacked? By who?" Sage asked as he began to try stop the blood flow with his jacket.

"I was...attacked...by..."

"By who?" Sage asked.

The man coughed again and winced as Sage put pressure on his wound. "They...toook my kingdom...my people...my queen. Dead..they're all...dead. You must...you must help."

Sage nodded. "Sure mister, We'll help. Just tell us who attacked you, okay?"

"Sailor Scouts. I was attacked...by the Sailor Scouts."

Bum....

Bum...

Bum....

Wow! I've updated, it's amazing! I'm so happy! It's not daughter's pride likeI wanted, but hey... It's somehting! Read and review please!!! I hope you like it! Also, there's no spellchecker on my computer, so I apologize for any bad spelling or major grammar problems in the story. Thanks---PennyGirl.


	4. Fire Reading and Marriage Meetings

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or the ronin warriors and am not making any money off of this story.

Fighting Fate

Part 3: Fire Reading and Marriage Meetings

It was late, and Rei was tired. So it was with an extreme amount of happiness that she sent the last of her martial arts students home at a time close to midnight. She walked the halls tiredly and shut off all the lights in the dojo and shut all the doors to the prayer rooms before she finally was able to walk down the long hallway that led to her room.

Walking so softly her steps were nothing but whispers on the hardwood floors, Rei made her way towards her bedroom with nothing but thoughts of her mattress and feather pillows going through her head.

Than she walked pass the fire room.

When she was younger, and the Sailor Scouts still went thorugh battles and wars, she would consult the fire at least twice a day. When Galaxia was defeated, for the first six months, she consulted it once every day. But no enemies came. There were no more attacks. And slowly, almost without thinking about it, Rei stopped. Wihtout realizing it, she had stopped consuting the fire for things that would hurt the world. Nowadays, she would consult the fire about three times a week for temple rituals with grandpa, and when requested to by the visitors to the temple. That was it. It had been over five years since she would stay up well past midnight consulting the fire for visions of an enemy or imminent danger.

Now, as she made her way passed the room, she stopped to shut the door, which she was _sure _she had closed for the day earlier that afternoon. Her hand was resting on the edge of the handle to pull it closed when she felt what oculd only be described as...a pull. A pull from something she couldn't describe, but that compelled her to go into the room.

With a sigh and a feeling of foreboding, Rei walked through the doorway and shut the door behind her as she walked towards the fire. Slowly, and carefully, she sat on the smooth wooden floor with crossed legs and placed her hands in her lap. Than, she looked up into the fire, and waited.

And waited.

And waited...

Than, right about when she was beginning to think she was crazy, she saw it. Or rather, she felt it.

Evil.

Pure Evil.

Evil that radiated nothing but hate and rage and all of the other things that Rei and her friends had fought for so long to keep from hurting the world and taking over it. Rei was so surprised by the strength of the evil that it took her a long time to realize that it had taken shape and was revealing itself to her within the fire.

Rei looked up at the figure in the fire slowly and fell back in shock at who she was looking at. There was no way! It couldn't be him. It just couldn't.

Than the figure turned it's gaze towards her with an unkind glint deep in it's eyes and reached for her. Rooted to the floor, Rei could only look up in fear as the figure came closer and spoke to her of all the evil plans that it had for her and her friends. It's hands were at her throat...

"Rei!"

"Huh?" Rei opened her eyes to see Grandpa standing above her.

"What are you doing in here? I was sure that you'd gone to bed last night."

Grandpa leaned down to help pull her up and Rei figured that she must have fainted sometime during her vision of the figure within the fire. Looking around the room, she saw that the fire had died down to a much calmer blaze than the one she had walked in on, and that sunlight was shining in through the windows of the room across the hall.

"What time is it?" Rei asked, stretching her back. She felt as if she'd been on that floor all night.

Grandpa looked at the small watch he had begun to wear in order to know when to take his medicine, and replied, "Eight o'clock. It's eight in the morning, Rei." He gave her a concerned look, like the ones he'd given her during her first year as a Sailor Scout, when she'd spent an extreme amount of time by the fire, or had been out late at night with the girls. "Have you been here all night?" he asked.

"I think so," Rei said. Eight in the morning? How could it already be the next day? she had only been in front of the fire for an hour or two, she was sure of it.

"Rei?" Grandpa asked.

"Yes?" Rei asked back, rubbing her neck. _God_ she was sore.

"Don't you have a meeting with your parents this morning?"

"What?" Rei blanked out for a few moments as Grandpa's words filtered their way through her head.

Than she remembered.

Big meeting. Her parents. Life changing decisions.

"Crap!"

* * *

Miyuki Date glanced at her watch impatiently and threw her husband a frustrated glance as the couple across the table made their third apology of the past twenty minutes.

"I honestly don't know why she's not here, she's usually very punctual to all of our other meetings," Lynette Hino said as her husband just tapped his pen in what seemed to be boredom.

"Maybe she's finally acted on those threats of hers," Miyuki's son muttered under his breath.

"What threats?" Lynette asked sharply.

"The ones where I say that I'm on the next plane to Italy to live with my friend Lita. Hello mother, father, sorry I'm late. There were some issues at the temple that needed handling," a feminine voice said politely.

Miyuki only glared as the only daughter of Lynette and Michael Hino walked in through the large glass doors of the meeting room and smiled apologetically to her parents.

With alook that was less than forgiving, Miyuki merely tsked her disapproval and turned to her lawyer. "Can we just begin, please? This meeting was supposed to begin half an hour ago."

"Certainly," the lawyer replied, pulling several papers out of a file in his briefcase and turning to the Hino's and their daughter, Rei. "The papers are very simple and uncomplicated. It's a basic prenuptual agreement with a perfectly standard clause about what happens if either spouse commits adultery and makes the request for a divorce. All you have to do, is sign." The lawyer handed the papers to Michael Hino, who looked them over quickly and handed them to his daughter with directions to sign them.

Rei sighed and muttered an american obscenity under her breath while taking the pen she was handed. Than she stopped and handed the papers back to her father. "No," she said, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms.

"Damnit, Rei, this is the third time you've refused to sign the agreement!" Michael snapped. "Just sign the damn thing and we can this meeting over with."

"I refuse to sign anything that takes away the things I have involved myself in for my entire life," Rei said calmly.

"Rei! Who cares about your life! Dammit! Just do what I said!" Michael yelled, slamming his fist on the table.

"NO! I don't want to! I don't want to have this life you're trying to set up for me!" Rei yelled angrily, standing so abruptly that she knocked her seat over.

Miyuki sighed. This happened every meeting.

Sitting next to her was her son, who was discreetly handing her husband a flask as he tried to tune out the argument happening before them.

Across the table, Lynette rubbed her temples as a headache began to settle in. Miyuki handed her some aspirin she had stashed in her purse and settled back comfortably in her seat.

It was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

Sage walked out of the elevator and into the large shopping area downstairs to see Rei Hino angrily kick a vending machine that he could only assume had not given her what she wanted. Smiling kindly, Sage walked over and offered her some coins. "Wanna try again?" he asked.

"There's no point," Rei said, "It's out anyway." Angrily, she kicked the machine with her stiletto heel. "Piece of crap. I only want one gods be dammed cigarette! Is that too hard to ask?"

Sage chuckled and handed her a pack that he'd had stashed in his pocket. "Peace offering?" he asked. When Rei threw him a disbelieving look, he held up his right hand as if to show that he was unarmed, the left one holding the cigarettes. "It's strictly temporary, of course."

"Of course," Rei said, smiling and pulling a cigarette out the pack. She dug a lighter out of her large purse and held it to the cigarette as she clicked it on. "Thanks," She said, blowing out the smoke.

"I didn't know you smoked," Sage said, pulling out a cigarette of his own and lighting it.

"I don't. But certain people, on certain days, compel me to do so." Rei breathed smoke out again and gestured to Sage's cigarette with her own. "I didn't think you smoked either," Rei said, taking another hit. "Isn't it bad for that weirdo diet I heard you've gone on for the tournament?" she asked, leaning against the wall next to the vending machine

Sage grinned. "Completely horrible." He breathed deeply and blew out the smoke. "It ruins it entirely and I really shouldn't be doing it."

Rei raised her eyebrows stared significantly at Sage's cigarette. He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Usually," he said, breathing deep on the cigarette. "But those meetings! My god! They're just so..."

"Why the hell do you think I'm smoking this thing?" Rei said, holding up her cigarette. "These meetings with your parents and mine are the sole reason that I would even consider to smoke. Meeting days only, no others." Rei breathed in the last of the cigarette and dropped it on the ground, crushing it with her right shoe. "Have anymore? she asked.

Sage handed her another one and lit it for her. "Careful, if you have too many, you might get cancer," Sage said, dropping his own cigarette and stepping on it.

Rei breathed deep on her cigarette and laughed as she breathed out the smoke. "Doubt it. My father might give me heart attack first," Rei said.

Sage laughed at this comment and than he and Rei just stood together in silence as she quickly finished her cigarette.

Than Rei stood straight and Sage watched as she dropped her cigarette and destroyed it with her heel. Than she looked up at Sage defiantly and said "I like my life the way it is. I don't want to change it."

"I wouldn't want you to," Sage replied.

Rei crossed her arms over her chest, looked out the window at the people walking by, and glared. "My parents set this up for me a year after I was born," she explained. "They didn't consider the fact that I might grow up with a different aspiration than that of becoming your wife."

"I'm sure that they didn't," Sage agreed.

Rei smiled and pulled her purse straps onto her shoulder. Than she looked Sage in the eye and quietly said, "I don't want to marry you, Sage."

Sage sighed. "I don't want to marry you either, Rei," he replied. He smiled bitterly. "Which really is a shame. You're quite attractive, you know. I'm sure our children would be very good looking."

Rei smiled, and blushed. She wasn't used to such compliments. Than she frowned. "Than why do you go along with it?" she asked. "Why don't you try and fight it?"

Sage sighed again and tiredly ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Because it's tradition. Every man in my family for the past two hundred years has agreed to let his parents arrange his marriage for him. No one has ever fought it. And no one has ever gotten out of it."

Rei sighed. "Sage, I have a life. I have school. I have friends!. Marrying you means that I have to give that up."

"I don't want you to give it up," Sage explained calmly.

"But you're parents do and you're not saying anyhting to stop them from demanding it. Which to me means, you approve of it," Rei said, poking Sage in the chest with her finger.

Sage laughed bitterly, finally figuring it out. "I'm gonna guess that this is the reason that you don't like me so much."

Rei nodded, looking down at her feet to hide the anger she knew was beginning to show in her eyes. Than she looked up at Sage sadly and cupped his cheek in her hand. She smiled. "You're a kind person, Sage," she said sadly, "and I honestly think that we might be friends if it weren't for the fact that we were arranged to be married."

"But we are," Sage replied, gently removing her hand from his cheek and not letting it go.

After a few moments Rei nodded. "Yes, we are." She slowly pulled her hand away from his. "Which means that, when I leave this building, and walk away from you, I will continue my dislike of you, and keep myself away from you. Because, maybe if my parents see how much I dislike and don't get along with you, they'll let me get out of the arrangement."

Sage smiled widely and cheerfully in an attempt to dissipate the seriousness of the air between him and Rei. "I'm sorry to hear that. And I doubt your plan will work."

"That's your problem," Rei informed him.

Sage shrugged. "That's my opinion. I'm sticking to it." He bowed and gave his most charming smile. "And now, if you'll excuse me, milady, I have to go practice. There's a martial arts tournament in a couple of weeks which I still feel the need to prepare for."

Rei smiled and began to walk away. "I'll make a point to see you there," she said over her shoulder.

"Good-bye, Rei," Sage called out.

Rei just waved and continued walking away.

Sage watched her do so and sighed. It really was a shame she didn't like him. And he'd meant what he said earlier. She really was very good looking.

Sage jumped as the theme song for some crazy TV show came from his pocket. He sighed and pulled out his cell phone. "Yeah?" he asked.

"He's awake."

"I'll be right there." Sage shut his phone closed and put it back in his pocket. Great. This day was just getting bettter and better. First the meeting with his parents, than his discussion with his Rei, and now...now he had to go deal with some stranger who'd been found in the middle of the road.

Ah, the life of a Ronin in the modern day era. It truly was a wonderful thing.

* * *

-------------I know that it's probably boring, but the power wet out at my apartment building while I was in the middle of editing it. But I just needed to show why Rei dislikes Sage, and what's been happening in her life. The next one will be better. And will help to start to move the plot along. Please review. I'd appreciate it. ---PennyGirl 


	5. Jadeite

Disclaimer: I don't own, please don't sue, I'm making no money off this.

Fighting Fate

Part 4: Jadeite

_New York City_

Greg was not to be considered an unusual person. He went to school, worked at his job, went home, cooked dinner, played wih his cat, took his dog for a walk, made phone calls to assorted friends and family, and than went to sleep. Perfectly normal, and perfectly boring.

Until today.

Greg was at work when the first traces of the vision began to happen.

He was passing some papers to a girl across the counter when he felt a twinge on the side of his head. He shook it to disperse it, and blinked several times to clear his eyes, which had suddenly gone cloudy.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked.

"Fine, I'm fine," Greg replied, ringing up her purchase and handing her the receipt and change. "Have a nice day," he said as she walked out the door.

With a sigh, Greg went back to work and made a mental note to call his doctor later that day about his medication. He wasn't supposed to get these headaches anymore.

He also didn't make that phone call, either.

He got three headaches that day. Four other times, his eyes clouded or he was just unable to see entirely for several moments. He finally realized he couldn't fight what was happening when he was at home and he blinked, saw a tokyo building, blinked again, and saw the view out of his apartment window.

Greg than sighed and just let the vision come.

_War. Fire. Ice. Lightning. Earthquakes. Arrows and swords. Crystals and Tiaras. There were warriors protected in armor, and they were fighting women dressed in skirts and bows. _

_And Ami. His Ami. She was tall, and beautiful, and her eyes were bluer than the brightest sapphire. She was surrounded in the middle of a Tokyo street. And than, from out of nowhere, an arrow was fired._

_And it was headed for Ami. _

"No!" Greg cried, coming out of the vision. He stumbled for the door, grabbing his wallet and passport out of a nearby desk drawer as he went. Rushing down the hall, he banged on his best friend's door and asked for them to watch his pets while he was gone.

"Why? Where are you going?" they asked.

"Germany," Greg replied. "I have a friend there I need to see."

"Okay." the friend replied.

Greg breathlessly thanked them and rushed off out the building. Ami, he had to warn Ami!

* * *

_Mia's Mansion, outside of tokyo, in the country..._

"So let me get this straight," Kento said, as the other Ronins and their guest looked on.

"You," he pointed to their guest, "are named Jadeite."

"Correct," the blonde haired man said.

"And you want us," Kento gestured to his freinds on the couch, "to fight a war for you."

Jadeite smiled. "Not exactly."

"Than what exactly is it that you want us to do?" Cye asked softly, watching Jadeite carefully.

Jadeite sighed. "I can fight my own wars," he said. Gesturing to his shoulder wrapped in bandages, he shrugged as best he could. "But you can obviously see that I'm currently incapacitated."

"I tried healing it for you, but you're body resisted," Sage said.

Jadeite nodded. "Yes you did, and I thank you for it. The little you tried to do helped me immensely. If not for you, I would probably be asleep till next winter." Jadeite sigehd and folded his hands in his lap. "My people only wanted to keep our kigdom alive. See, we'd been nearly destroyed by war a thousand years ago, and it was only about eight and a half years ago that we discovered we could keep everybody, and everything, alive by using energy we'd discovered here on earth. But we didn't know that the energy we required treatened the lives of the ones known as the Sailor Scouts. They fought my queen and her soldiers at every possible chance. But our kingdom needed the energy so badly that I continued in my endeavors to acquire it, and risked the chance of being stopped by the Sailor Scouts." Jadeite sighed and was silent for a few moments. He breathed deep and continued on. "But they still fought. And matters finally got to the point that I was forced to challenge them to an open battle at one of your city's airports. I wasn't paying attention to the fact that it was foggy. And as I made to strike a blow at their leader, I was blinded. The next thing I knew, I was sealed in a block of ice. I wake up today, come here, and discover that it's eight years later. My kingdom and queen are gone, and the Sailor Scouts have stolen our power."

"Than what exactly is it that you want?" Ryo asked.

"I want to get that power back. I'm sure that if I acquire it, my kingdom can be rebuilt and my queen resurrected."

"And you need us because..." Sage began.

Jadeite sighed. "I need you because, in my current state, I am not at the power level needed to capture the sailor scouts."

"Capture?" Ryo asked.

"Yes, capture."

"Sorry, but I'm confused. Why don't you just wait until you're fully healed and up to power, than handle them yourself?" Ryo asked."Declare war, fight them, destroy them. Whatever it is that you choose to do."

"I can't." Jadeite leaned forward and gazed at Ryo intently. "See, if I kill the sailor scouts, or declare war on them, I will be outmanned, outpowered, and flat out destroyed in my first battle. and that's even if I _do_ wait until my full strength is returned. The power I need to rebuild my kingdom, the power that they stole, will disappear once their souls leave their body, and I will be nowhere. And any hope that I might have of rebuilding will be gone."

"So what will capturing them do, exactly?" Rowen asked.

"If I capture them, I can harness the energy they've stolenand siphon it off to my kingdom's power source. Slowly rebuildingthekingdom and repopulating it with the subjects that have been lost, and eventually gaining enough power by combining the energy of the subjects, and the energy I have left from the scouts, to resurrect my queen."

"Draining their energy won't kill them?" Ryo asked.

"No. It will weaken them greatly, though. When they have been drained to the level of a normal human being, I will release them to my kingdom's subjects and they will stand trial for their crimes against us."

"So you just want us to help you capture them?" Kento asked. "No killing? Just capture, and that's it?"

"Yes," Jadeite replied. "Just capture. No killing."

Ryo frowned. "I don't know, Jadeite. We've had peaceful lives for a few years now, I'd hate to change it."

"Ryo!" Kento exclaimed. "He needs our help!"

"But we hardly know him, Kento. Just because he's asking for help doesn't mean that we should give it!"

"But--"

"I agree with Ryo," Rowen interrupted.

Kento glared at him.

"But I also think we should vote on it."

Ryo looked at him curiously, and he shrugged. "Well, we're not at war. This isn't like when Tulpa was here. This isn't what we were given our armors for. This is something where we have a choice. We are being nicely asked to capture an enemy that we have never even heard of. An enemy that has never caused us any harm. To help in the restoration of a kingdom that we've never even seen. We don't even know where to start looking for them, either."

"Actually," Jadeite spoke up, "I know who they are. I discovered their identities during the final battle that I fought against them. I can identify them for you if necessary. Their names are escaping me at the moment, but I assure you that I can remember their faces."

"Or how powerful they are," Rowen continued, going on as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"I trust that you can handle them," Jadeite said. "After all, there are less of them than there are of you."

"That's encouraging," Ryo commented.

Rowen sighed and flopped back in the couch cushions. "It's your decision, Ryo. You're the leader, after all. We trust you're decisions, you know that we do."

Ryo looked at Jadeite for a long time. Finally, he asked, "Are you telling us the truth?"

"Yes," Jadeite replied with a serious look on his face. "I am telling you the truth."

"You're not going to kill these sailor scouts? You promise that you'll only drain their power and have them stand trial?"

"Yes."

Ryo shrugged. "Fine, let's vote. Sage?"

Sage sighed. "Fine. I'm in." He pointed a finger directly at Jadeite. "But if you're lying to us, I swear that you won't like the results."

"I assure you that I'm not lying to you," Jadeite told him.

Ryo turned to the others on the couch. "Rowen? Cye?"

Cye shrugged. "Sure. As long as we don't hurt anyone. And I guess as long as we don't have to kill anyone either."

"Sounds good to me," Ryo said. "Rowen?"

Rowen frowned. "I don't like it. But if you guys are willing to believe it, I guess I'm in."

"Thank you," Jadeite said, "I promise that won't regret it."

"Kento?" Ryo asked.

Kento looked deep in thought, finally, he just shrugged. "Sure. Why not? I mean, nobody's going to die, right?"

Ryo nodded. "Majority wins. Jadeite, you have yourself some help."

"Thank you," Jadeite said, standing and shaking Ryo's hand. "I appreciate everything. Really."

"Dinner's ready!" Mia yelled from the kitchen.

"Perfect timing!" Ryo said, clapping his hands together happily. "Jadeite, care to join us?"

Jadeite shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I need to get back to my kingdom's grounds. There are some tomes left from the library. I need to research them for information aboutmy queen's history and power source. But I promise to return tomorrow and join you for your morning meal, instead."

"Suit yourself," Ryo said, letting Kento lead the way for him, Cye, and Sage into the dining room.

Rowen held back though. He watched as Jadeite pulled on his jacket and asked curiously, "How are you getting there?"

"Pardon?" Jadeite asked.

"Your kingdom, how are you getting back there?"

Jadeite smiled. "Your dimension has many constantly fluctuating portals that I can use to get back. It's actually how I was able to get here to find your friends."

"Huh, cool," Rowen said.

"Yes," Jadeite said, heading for the door, "it is."

"Good luck with your books," Rowen said.

"Thank you. And I hope that you enjoy your dinner."

Rowen smiled. "I usually do," he said.

Than Jadeite was out the door, and Rowen went off to concern himself with dinner and his friends.

* * *

_Somewhere cold._

"How was your trip?"Lucy asked as Jadeite stepped through the portal with a malicious and evil grin upon his face.

Jadeite ripped the bandages off his shoulder and laughed. "They bought it! Those foolish Ronins actually bought it!"

* * *

A/N: Oh, yay! Another chapter finished. Basically, it's obvious that the ronins are against the sailor scouts, Not exactly original, I know, but hopefully it will still come out okay. I hope you liked it. I hope that you review. And I hope to have another chapter up soon!

Bye now!-PennyGirl.


	6. Talk

Disclaimer: I don't own ronin warriros or sailor moon and am not making any money off of this story. 

Part 5: Talk

One day, at the age of fourteen, a blonde teenage girl had met a talking cat and become a warrior for good. And over the next few years, she and her friends had fought the bad guys, saved the day, seen the past, been to the future, and grown up. When the wars ended, they parted ways, each pursuing her own dream, and moving on with her life. Ami went to Berlin, to study medicine. Lita had gone to Italy on a culinary scholarship. Setsuna had said something about other realms and disappeared, occasionally writing a letter to everyone and saying she was fine. Michiru and Haruka had stayed in Tokyo. Haruka to race cars and Michiru to teach art, raising Hotaru together as a family and hanging out with Rei at the temple. Serena had married Darien, and together with the guardian cats, they'd gone off to see Europe. Mina had been discovered by some agent while shopping and now traveled the globe modeling. And somewhere in the future, a pink haired, foul mouthed Rini was growing up.

Mina contemplated all this as she sat at a table in the kitchen of the cherry hill temple and watched the leaves fall in the autumn wind. She was so wrapped up in the scene, she didn't notice Lita had joined her until the brunette placed a steaming cup in front of her.

"Thought you'd like something to drink," Lita said, pulling out a chair.  
Mina smiled and looked at what her friend had brought her. Tea, peppermint by the smell of it. "Thank you," she said.  
"You're welcome," Lita said, sipping from her own cup.  
The two sat like that for a while. Drinking their tea and staring out the window. After awhile Lita asked, "Bad dream?"  
Mina nodded. "Kept me up all night."  
"What about?"  
"Beryl. You?"  
"Same. What do you think it means?"  
Mina shrugged. "Don't know. But Rei's in the fire room, so whatever it is, it's probably getting to her too."  
Lita sighed. "You think it's a bad guy? Someone tied to the negaverse?"  
Mina shrugged. "Maybe"  
"I don't like maybe," Lita siad.  
"Me neither," Mina said, and took a drink from her tea.  
The two fell silent again, each contemplating what would happen if it was somehting bad, and how it would affect the happy lives they'd made for themselves. "Maybe it's just a coincidence," Lita said.

"Hopefully," Mina said.  
"Yeah," Lita agreed. "Hopefully."

* * *

That same morning, outside the city in Mia's house the guys were all waiting for Jadeite to arrive and could think of nothing to do but sit around and fidget while they barely touched their food. "They look so worried," Yuli whispered to Mia as he watched Rowen stir in his fourth spoonful of sugar. He and Mia were watching the guys from the living room couch, having already finished their breakfasts. "You'd think they'd be full of life or something, but instead they just look...depressed."  
Mia sighed and crossed out something on her to do list for the day. "Well, how would you feel after having several years of no bad guys and than having to go hunt them down again?"  
Yuli looked at his friends again, than back at Mia. "But they didn't have to agree to help," he siad. "They could have just said no"  
Mia looked over at Ryo, staring at his armor orb in his hands with a melancholy look on his face. "If you were a ronin, would you have said no if an injured man asked you for help against those who wronged him? Be it demon, human, or otherwise?"  
Yuli thought back over his years of knowing the ronins and how generous and kind they had been to him. They'd taken him in when he had no home, and raised him when his parents were never found. He shook his head. "No. No I wouldn't have."  
"Well, there you go than."  
Yuli sighed and slumped back in his seat a little more. He felt bad for his friends. They deserved their peace, and now they were going to go off to fight again.  
DING-Dong!  
Yuli jumped at the sound of the door bell and watched as Mia got up and let the blonde haired man named Jadeite into the house. Yuli eyed him warily. These sailor scouts he had talked about had better be really evil like he said. Because if they weren't, he was going to be in a lot of trouble.

* * *

"I need to express again how grateful I am that you are helping me," Jadeite said to Ryo as they and two of the other ronins walked thorugh Tokyo's busy streets.  
Ryo shrugged. "Don' mention it. We're good guys. We fight bad guys. These sailor socuts are just bad guys we haven't met yet."  
Jadeite smiled. "Yes, but still, thank you"  
"You're welcome"  
"You said there are less of them," Rowen cut in.  
"Pardon?" Jadeite asked, turing to face Rowen, who was walking with Kento behind them.  
"You said there were less of them. Yesterday. You said there were less of them than there are of us. Exactly how many of them are there?"  
"I fought three of them," Jadeite said, and stared into the distance as he remembered eight years ago. "Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and their leader, Sailor Moon. Each one was different from the other. But they were all the same in the fact that they were trying to destroy my Queen and her kingdom"  
"What could they do?" Ryo asked. "Fighting wise I mean. Did they have powers, or weapons? Or did they use other tactics when it came to fighting battles?"  
Jadeite snorted. "They had tactics, but they were not very good. These girls were not very smart when it came to battle. How they beat my queen I can't even fathom. Sailor Mercuries main tactic was to use a type of fog that would disorient you so that one of the others, usually Sailor Mars, could come in and attack you."  
"What would Mars attack you with?" Rowen asked.  
"Fire," Jadeite said. "Mainly fireballs. Occasionally, she'd use these charms dedicated to fire spirits to hold an opponent at bay, but after a while, they were not very effective."  
"And Sailor Moon?" Ryo asked.  
Jadeite frowned. "She had no powers, really. She had a tiara she could use as a weapon. She would remove it and it would become a sort of disc of energy that she could throw to hurt you. But other than that, she couldn't do much else. She should be easy handle. Mercury as well. Mars should be your only worry really. She's a fighter. Even without her powers."  
"So how do we find them?" Kento asked, finally putting his say into the conversation. "You said you knew who they were."  
Jadeite smiled. "True, I do. But this tokyo is a big place. I'll know them if I see them, but it could take a long time to search through all these streets to look for them."  
"So how do you plan to find them? Or for us to find them?" Ryo asked.  
"With this," Jadeite said, and pulled out of his pocket a small mirrorored orb about the size of a marble. "What is it?" Kento asked.  
"It's a energy reader. It will float throughtout the city and search for the type of energy I tell it to search for. Which, in this case, is the three sailor scouts."  
"How do you know what their energy looks like?" Rowen asked, peering at the orb as Jadeite let it go and it floated on it's own in the autuimn air.  
"Because I had it with me in my last fight with the Sailor Scouts. It recorded what their energy patterns felt like and will alert me when it finds them. The unfortunate thing is, it can only detect the energy pattern in a certain range. It cannot give me an exact location."  
"What's the range?" Ryo asked.  
"A mile," Jadeite said.

"That's a lot of space," Rowen said.  
"I know, but it was the best that I could do."  
"You can't make the range any smaller?" Ryo asked.  
Jadeite shook his head. "Not if I want to alert the scouts to my presence. A larger reader could find them within a few hundred yards radius, but it is easily detectable"  
"Well, we can't have that," Rowen said.  
"No," Jadeite said, waving his hand in front of the orb and watching it speed off. "We can't."

* * *

Germany was a cold place in autumn. Greg should have known this and brought a better coat. But he hadn't, so now he was standing in front of some old looking apartment building and trying to get the nerve up to go inside. He stood out there for several hours until a young woman passing by stopped and asked him something in german. He shook his head to show he didn't understand her and she said in english, "Are you alright?"

Greg shivered and nodded. "Yeah. I'm waiting for someone."  
"Out here?" the girl asked dubiously. "Why not wait inside where its warm?"  
Greg shivered some more and said, "She doesn't know I'm here. It's important that I see her though."  
"If it's important, why don't you go inside already?"  
Greg sniffed and pulled his coat tighter. "If you hadn't seen your ex for almost six years, would you be eager to tell them bad news?"  
The girl shook her head. "No. But surely she will not mind seeing you if it's been as long as you say it has?"  
"She will when I tell her why I'm here."  
The girl shook her head in disbelief. "Who are you looking for anyway?" she asked.  
Greg took an old photo out of his wallet. "Her name's Ami. Ami Mizuno."  
The girl smiled at the picture. "I know her! She's from Japan, right?"  
Greg nodded. "How do you know her?" he asked.  
The girl handed him back the photo. "I am her roommate, Mika."  
"I see," Greg said, and sneezed.  
Mika frowned at him and than smiled, saying, "You should come up for some tea."  
Greg shook his head. "I'm not ready yet."  
Mika laughed and started pulling him toward the door. "Nonsense. Of course you are. And besides, Ami is not here. She has gone out to run some errands. She will be back later."  
"But..." Greg began.  
"No buts," Mika said, and pulled him through the door and up the stairs. Once at the apartment, she sat him down to wait for Ami over some tea. After an hour or so, a key rattled in the doors lock and Greg stood up as the door opened. First to come through were some grocery bags, than an arm full of books, and than the rest of the young woman that was Ami.  
She was exactly as he remembered her. Sapphire blue hair cut short into a bob, pale skin tinted a pale pink on her cheeks, arms full of books from school, and when she looked up to see him standing there, her wide eyes were still the same royal color he rembered them to be. Ami dropped her books and groceries with thud. "Greg."  
"Hi Ami," he said. "Long time no see"  
Ami's mouth gaped open and shut, than she opened it agian to ask, "What are you doing here? I thought you were living in new york."  
"I was. I came to see you," he said.  
"Why?"  
Greg sighed. "I have some bad news."

* * *

A/N: Yay, I've updated again. I know this chapter was all talk, very little action. But next chapter will hopefully have a little action to it. Like maybe a fight scene. Where the ronins meet one of the scouts for the first time. And we'll get to see more of Sage and Rei interacting. Along with Hotaru and someone else. Whenever I update it that is. -

--Love--PennyGirl.


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